Wall Street Journal (10/08/15) Jon Hilsenrath

Officials held off on raising short-term interest rates due to concerns about inflation being stuck at ultra-low levels, according to the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s September meeting. Officials did indicate that the economy is near “full employment,” but they were not convinced that inflation would soon move back toward the Fed’s 2% target. The inflation rate is expected to remain low due to the surge in the dollar—which has depressed import prices—and declines in oil and other commodity prices.

Private-sector hiring cooled in August and September, which could signal that the economy’s growth is slowing. Janet Yellen, the Fed chairman, said officials worry that “recent global economic and financial developments [have] imparted some restraint to the economic outlook and placed further downward pressure on inflation in the near term.”